Fishermen's Relay

Friday:	Fishermen's Relay
Elementary Bible Lesson:	Fishers of Men
Memory Verse:	Matthew 4:19
Preschool Bible Lesson:	Fishers of Men

Age Groups:

• elementary
• preschool
• teens

Equipment Needed:

• fish (you can use the same sponge fish from earlier in the week)
• toy pool nets (2)
• small plastic pool
• optional: fill the pool with water (outdoors) or packing peanuts (indoors)
• fisherman gear (in pairs, essentially identical items for each team)
  suggestions:
  • fisherman's boots (hip waders or galoshes)
  • fisherman's hat (can be decorated with bobbers)
  • oversized jacket
  • life jacket
  • bug spray (water in a reusable spray bottle; they can spray a little on themselves and leave the bottle behind)
  • sunscreen
  • stringer (on a belt)
  • tackle box
  • lunch cooler
  • rod and reel, or cane pole
  • bucket for the fish
  • bait
  • oar
  • inflatable raft

Instructions:

Divide the group into teams of equal size. Various articles of clothing and (non-sharp) fishing paraphernalia are available for each team. Each team member in turn must don all the fisherman stuff, run down to the pool of fish, fish out one fish (using a hand-held net, like a toy pool net), return with it, and take off all the fisherman stuff so the next team member can do the same thing.

You will want to vary the amount and type of gear according to age group. For the preschool, limit the carried items to one small item (plus the net), and skip the more complex worn items. For teens, load them up with as many large and/or awkward items as possible, and don't spare the hip waders.

If your group is large, you can divide into more than two teams, but you need as many of each piece of fisherman gear as there are teams, e.g., for four teams you need four sets of boots, four tackle boxes, etc. For a very small group, use just one set of stuff and time each person with a stopwatch to see who can get the best time.